Pátmos, Cave of the Apocalypsa

On the Island of Pátmos we walked around Skala, then took a taxi to near the St. John Monastery, at the top of the island. The buildings at the Monastery are quite colorful, with arches, rooms and stairways. The library at the Monastery contains 15,000 books, over 1,000 manuscripts, including fragments of the famous Codex Purpureus. Nearly 1500 years old, the Codex Purpureus is one of the oldest illustrated manuscripts in the world. Its outer appearance exhibits sheer royalty, and the purple colored parchment made the manuscript famous. Only 386 pages out of the original 800, remain. The current version includes a complete Gospel of St. Matthew and a nearly complete Gospel of St. Mark. Of great interest is the portrait of St. Mark.

We then visited the Cave of the Apocalypsa. According to the Michelin Green Guide, this Cave is the “… spot where St. John received his divine revelation through terrifying dreams … … .” The first thing I thought of was, “Where’s the fire extinguisher?”

Conducted tours are available for cruise ship passengers, but we have found that we know how to get around on our own. We may miss this or that, but we usually see more than most tour members see. Often the tour bus just “happens” to stop at a store that will give a kick-back to the tour guide.